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American environmentalism is defined by its icons: the 'Crying Indian' who shed a tear in response to litter and pollution; the cooling towers of Three Mile Island site of a notorious nuclear accident; the sorrowful spectacle of oil-soaked wildlife following the Exxon Valdez spill; and more recently Al Gore delivering his global warming slide show in An Inconvenient Truth. These images and others like them have helped make environmental consciousness central to American public culture. Yet most historical accounts ignore the crucial role images have played in the making of popular environmentalism let alone the ways that they have obscured other environmental truths. Finis Dunaway closes that gap with Seeing Green. Considering a wide array of images - including pictures in popular magazines television news advertisements cartoons films and political posters - he shows how popular environmentalism has been entwined with mass media spectacles of crisis. Beginning with radioactive fallout and pesticides during the 1960s and ending with global warming today he focuses on key moments in which media images provoked environmental anxiety but also prescribed limited forms of action. Moreover he shows how the media have blamed individual consumers for environmental degradation and thus deflected attention from corporate and government responsibility. Ultimately Dunaway argues iconic images have impeded efforts to realize - or even imagine-sustainable visions of the future. Generously illustrated this innovative book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of environmentalism or in the power of the media to shape our politics and public life.

Returns policy

We want you to be entirely happy with your order from start to finish but, if for any reason you change your mind about your order or if your order arrives faulty, please click here to view our full Delivery and Returns policy including information regarding postcode restrictions.

Product summary

American environmentalism is defined by its icons: the 'Crying Indian' who shed a tear in response to litter and pollution; the cooling towers of Three Mile Island site of a notorious nuclear accident; the sorrowful spectacle of oil-soaked wildlife following the Exxon Valdez spill; and more recently Al Gore delivering his global warming slide show in An Inconvenient Truth. These images and others like them have helped make environmental consciousness central to American public culture. Yet most historical accounts ignore the crucial role images have played in the making of popular environmentalism let alone the ways that they have obscured other environmental truths. Finis Dunaway closes that gap with Seeing Green. Considering a wide array of images - including pictures in popular magazines television news advertisements cartoons films and political posters - he shows how popular environmentalism has been entwined with mass media spectacles of crisis. Beginning with radioactive fallout and pesticides during the 1960s and ending with global warming today he focuses on key moments in which media images provoked environmental anxiety but also prescribed limited forms of action. Moreover he shows how the media have blamed individual consumers for environmental degradation and thus deflected attention from corporate and government responsibility. Ultimately Dunaway argues iconic images have impeded efforts to realize - or even imagine-sustainable visions of the future. Generously illustrated this innovative book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of environmentalism or in the power of the media to shape our politics and public life.

Returns policy

We want you to be entirely happy with your order from start to finish but, if for any reason you change your mind about your order or if your order arrives faulty, please click here to view our full Delivery and Returns policy including information regarding postcode restrictions.

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